Nov 12, 2012 - Wine country

A bus trip back towards where we came from to the town of Beaune (pronounced Bone), wine capital of Burgundy. Many of the vineyards are still owned by Hospices de Beaune, founded in 1443 as a hospital. We visited the hospital, Hotel Dieu. It is very large and served as a hospital from 1452 until 1971. There were 30 beds lined up end to end on both sides of the room with a very high ceiling. The beds were short and narrow, as they did not sleep lying down, only dead people lay flat, and 2 persons to a bed. There was actually "privacy" as the...

Nov 11, 2012 - Pardon me, Do you have any Gray Poupon?

Today is a long day on the bus. We must get to Lyon from Paris. There are 2 buses going as there are 66 people continuing on the next cruise. We were suppose to go to Chalon-sur-Saone, but the river Saone has risen very high after the rains of the last 2 days and the boat will not be able to pass under the bridges to the Rhone in Lyon. We traveled through the country side along the motorway. On Sundays no trucks are allowed on the motorway. At noon on Saturday they must stop wherever they are and cannot travel again until 10pm Sunday. We...

Oct 28, 2012 - Dijon and Beaune

We are now in Dijon, France it is dry here, sunshine but a cold winds from the mountains and the snow from yesterday. We head out walking to the train station and on to the town of Beaune a small town in the middle of the wine country, a walk around checking out a couple places, the historic hospital and the square, back to Dijon in the afternoon for a walk about the city, some dinner the back to hotel and calling it a night. On the 29th of Oct we are off for the Owl walk, this walk is marked by small brass owls on the sidewalk pointing the...

Sep 12, 2012 - Living In A Postcard

Amazing ... there is just no other way to begin this particular entry. It is amazing, that among all of the applications received, the owners of this unique guesthouse in South Burgundy, France chose us. It is amazing, that without any research or reference, we found ourselves in one of the most beautiful, diverse and interesting regions of France. It is amazing, that the owners' friends and neighbors embraced us immediately and were always available to help us, guide us and entertain us. And now are counted among our friends as well....

Jul 22, 2012 - A 4-train day

After a very nice breakfast in our little Murten hotel, we carried our luggage back to the train station (7 min. walk) in plenty of time for our 11:04 train to Neuchatel. We watched fields of grains and sunflowers speed by. Had 7 min. to get from this train to our next train to Lausanne, Switzerland. (So glad our conductor had told us which platform we needed to find in 9 min. to get on our first French high speed train (TGV) to Dijon.) The TGV was crowded and rather old but fine. Unexpectedly they served us a cold lunch about 1:15 that was...

Jul 22, 2012 - Dijon ... Pains d'épices et moutarde !

Vendredi le 20 juillet Jour 25 Direction de la gare de Beaune pour Dijon qui n’est qu’à 20 minutes en train. Dijon est une ville qui se refait une beauté. Dès septembre prochain, les Dijonnais auront un Tramway. La ville est complètement en construction et transformation. C’est une petite ville qui se découvre facilement en marchant. Nous faisons une visite guidée de la ville à la pluie et au froid, il fait 15 degrés. Heureusement que nous sommes bien équipés avec parapluies et imperméables. Le titre de la visite est Saveurs et Piquant...

Jul 18, 2012 - Beaune ... capitale de la Bourgogne

Lundi le 16 juillet 2012 Jour 22 Départ de Lyon vers Beaune Il est bien de rester près des gares. Nous prenons le train à l’heure pour une durée de 90 minutes. Nous ne regrettons pas nos choix que de voyager par train. C’est si simple. Nous arrivons dans la capitale du vin en Bourgogne en fin d’avant-midi. Le Gîte L’Octroi Saint-Jacques de 3 chambres est à 2 km de la gare. Les propriétaires, des retraités, ont aménagé l’ancienne demeure qui est adjacente à leur terrain servant d’octroi au 15e siècle. L’octroi étant une taxe d’entrée dans...

Jul 10, 2012 - In the Heart of Burgundy Wine Country

July 10th After another hearty hotel breakfast, we headed out on Sunday morning to the metro to take us to La Gare de Lyon for our train to Beaune in the wine growing region of Burgundy. The train, a TGV high speed train destined for Zurich, was very crowded and there was scarcely room to store our luggage. We transferred to a local train in Dijon for the 20 minute trek to Beaune. The train travels at close to 300 kms/hr. so it really speeds along! We arrived in Beaune at about 1pm. It is a grand old wine capital of Burgundy with a...

Jul 2, 2012 - WE'RE IN FRANCE!

Oui, c'est vrai! How the heck did that happen? Long story short ... we applied to be the caretakers of a 5 bedroom "Gite" (guesthouse) and were selected! This all came about very suddenly during our last week in Australia. The only negative was that we needed to be in France by June 7, which is why we spent only 2 weeks in Bali. So, with no research into the location, and no time to do it, before leaving Perth and while we still had internet access, we booked a flight from Bali to Geneva, Switzerland, about a 2.5 hour drive from our final...

Jun 13, 2012 - Dijon

Left Switzerland in pouring rain. Fortunately the worst of it happened on the French motorways not going up, down and around winding Alpine roads. The road we were on from Lausanne to Dijon in France had no tunnels. WE would our way through the Alps. Memories of what I was able see during the drive and in the pouring rain. Cows!! vineyards, orchards and lots of crops. Somewhat amazed by the amount of farms that seemed to be crammed in. Productivity is probably way higher than ours. Fields were really small but packed solid. Through the...

May 24, 2012 - Beaune

Arrived in Beaune late in the afternoon. This had been my one recommendation for the trip. Nicky and I had spent a few days here and were stunned by the tiling on the roofs particularly the 'Hotel of God'. (the words hospital or hospice hadn't been invented when the Duke of Burgundy set it up)is Frances best example. Note that photos are from our first trip, as the late afternoon shadows didnt show off the tiles in the same wasy as the suin earlier in the day, It did not close as a hospice until 1984. It is now set up as it was several...

May 1, 2012 - Burgundy wine tasting and relaxing (1-5 May)

After leaving Dijon, I was on my way to the exit portion of my trip. The much anticipated Burgundy wine tasting and sightseeing.  In my definition, Burgundy starts in Dijon and ends in Lyon( I include Beaujolais even though its included in the Rhone region on maps). I got to ride through the villages of marsannay, Gevrey-Chambertin, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot,  Ladoix, and other villages of the Cote de nuits the first day. I stayed in a hotel in beaune that night and went for  a great dinner and a night stroll before heading home to my room...